Sophia Michaels
The main event at the NFL Draft Combine is usually the 40-yard dash, especially when we get to see positions — like defensive back, running back, and wide receiver — that tend to have extremely fast football players. There are still plenty of other workouts that grab the attention of the general public, though, and thanks to one draft hopeful, we got to see a show on the bench press.
Michael Turk, a punter out of Arizona State, was one of two punters to do the bench press at this year’s combine. With all due respect to Bucknell’s Alex Pechin, who did a very respectable 13 reps of 225, Turk turned heads and got applause from onlookers by putting up 25 reps.
According to the NFL’s official site, that was the only test we saw out of Turk in Indianapolis. He does have quite the story outside of being able to throw steel with the best of them — ESPN noted that only one tight end did better, while some of the biggest (literally) players in football weren’t able to do this 25 times — as Turk began his career at FCS Lafayette, transferred to Arizona State after his freshman year, earned first-team All-Pac 12 honors during his one year in Tucson, and then opted to forgo his final two years of eligibility to head to the league.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Turk as his No. 2 punter in the class, behind the aforementioned Pechin. He’s also not the first punter we’ve seen put up a crazy bench press number, as former Notre Dame punter Tyler Newsome went for 30 at the Fighting Irish’s Pro Day last year.
Written by: Uproxx
